Benfica bags manager Santos after season's first match

Soccer Betting Lines

08/20/2007 - Lisbon, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Benfica fired manager Fernando Santos on Monday just two days after the club opened its season with a 1-1 draw against promoted side Matosinhos.

"Benfica have reached agreement with Fernando Santos to end his (two-year) contract," the club said in a statement on Monday.

Fernando Chalana, a former Benfica player and current assistant coach will take over the squad's training this week.

Former Benfica boss Jose Antonio Camacho is the favorite to replace Santos. Camacho helped guide the team to a second-place finish in 2004.

The 52-year-old Santos replaced Ronald Koeman after the 2005-06 season and lead the club to a third-place last year, two points behind league champions FC Porto.

Santos is the first coach to be fired this season, while Benfica will take on Guimaraes on Saturday.

Wwwcasinofortune Soccer Betting News

<< Broncos deal Warren to Oakland
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos have traded defensive tackle Gerard Warren to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for an undisclosed pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. Warren spent the past two years with the Broncos after

<< Derby completes signing of American Lewis
Derby, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - United States international Eddie Lewis completed his move to Premiership side Derby on Monday for an undisclosed fee. The 33-year-old Lewis has signed a two-year deal with the promoted club after spen

<< White Sox hope to end freefall against Royals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox try to put the brakes on their season-high eight-game losing streak this evening, when they open a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals at U.S. Cellular Field. Chicago extended its l

<< Twins host Mariners in matchup between streaking clubs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners try to stay atop the American League wild card standings when they begin a three-game set with the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome this evening. Seattle completed a three-game sweep of the Chica

<< Defense United in quest for MLS Cup
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United goalie Troy Perkins started to move to his left before he realized the ball was bending the other way. Perkins couldn't change direction in time, instead dropping his hands to his hips as he st

Rudd to retire at end of season >>
Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While waiting out yesterday's rain, 50-year- old Ricky Rudd announced that he would retire at the end of the 2007 season. "I've been fortunate that it's something that I've loved to do, had fun doing and m

Klose to miss next game with injury >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich striker Miroslav Klose will miss the team's next league contest on Saturday against Hannover because of a knee injury. Klose suffered the injury in Bayern's 4-0 thrashing of Werder Br

Gerrard among list of withdrawals for England >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was among a list of four more players who have withdrawn from the England squad that will meet Germany in a friendly on Wednesday at Wembley Stadium. Gerrard played in

European Solheim Cup squad tabs nine players >>
Macclesfield, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ladies European Tour announced the first nine players for its 2007 Solheim Cup team on Monday. Those nine players include two rookies and seven others that have combined for 35 previous appeara

Bellamy withdraws from Wales for friendly >>
Cardiff, Wales (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wales captain Craig Bellamy withdrew from the team on Monday for the upcoming friendly with Bulgaria. The 28-year-old striker pulled out of Wednesday's contest because his wife, Claire, is due to give

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

NFL Football Office Pools : NFL Football Contests

NFL Football Office Pool Printable Schedules

Welcome to our free football office pool page. Run your own NFL Football Office Pool. Create your own pool, invite your friends to join. Compete with your with co-workers, friends or family for bragging rights every week. Exchange some hard hits without risk of injury -- Trash Talk with your fellow co-workers.

Football Pickem Pools: Your basic office pool format, where you pick the winner of each game, either against the spread or straight up. Spice up your pool by using confidence ranks, key picks, and other options. Pick 5 pools available. You can print NFL Football Office Pools here. Custom ranks available. Custom point spreads. Use Pro and/or College games, even D1AA games can be included. Many many other options.

Football Survivor Pools: Also known as Knockout, Suicide, Eliminator, Survival and Loser pools. Pick one team each week. If they win you advance to the next round. If they lose, you're out. The catch: You can only pick a team once. Many options like Pick a Team Only [Once,Twice,Unlimited], [1,2,3,4,5] Strikes and You're Out, Double Picks, Bye Weeks, Alias Entries and more. Very easy to set up and manage.

Football Share Pools: Pick college and/or pro football game winners using Vegas odds in our own unique Share Pool format. Accumulate points by picking pointspread and over/under winners. Risk as many points as you want on any game. The person with the most points (shares) at the end wins. Perfect for the Playoffs and Bowl Seasons.

Fantasy Football Pools: Fantasy football pool managers love our easy to use interface and custom settings. Points and head to head leagues, custom points, offline drafts, live scoring, waiver wire, trades and more. Live customer service by email or phone. $50 flat fee.

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.